D c38s02
Summary List of stories Phase I Day: Honor, Duty, And Family << chapter 37 Chapter 38 of 75 Doomsayers phase II >> << previous scene Scene 2 of 3 next scene >> Location Participants Time Summary Prologue | Phase I | Phase II | Epilogue 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 Text Scrivener and Luna took down and laid out every corpse as best they could, paying special attention to Twilight and her friends. The two living ponies were bleeding, aching, and confused and admittedly a little scared over what they had encountered and fought off... but at the same time, they both felt that they wouldn't have to worry about another attack on this layer. They had clearly demonstrated they would gladly fight anything Clockwork World had to throw at them... and that furthermore, they would win. They covered the dead, and then Luna lit an enormous signal fire, too tired to do anything else. The blue flames spread over the houses she had chosen, burning and spreading, but not consuming them, and not going out of control as the winged unicorn and Scrivener Blooms quietly laid themselves down. The signal fire burned until nightfall, and Royal Guards arrived from Canterlot to investigate it and why there had been no response from anypony in Ponyville. They were confused by the sight of Luna and Scrivener, and horrified when the two led them calmly to the town square and the countless bodies... but Luna didn't want to explain what had happened to them. They tried to reason with her, tried to intimidate her, but Luna only said quietly: "I will only speak to the Princesses of this. 'Tis not a story I desire to repeat." Just after dawn, a group of ponies arrived, escorted by Pegasus Guard in sky chariots: Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor. The Captain of the Guard started to go about his duties, professional, calm, even as the Princesses walked forwards, staring in horror at the damage to the village. He approached Luna and Scrivener... but then his eyes caught on the sight of the violet horn standing out from beneath a sheet, the frazzled, streaked mane... and he stumbled, then shivered before turning towards this, shoving the soldiers that were taking in the body count out of the way to rip the sheet back before dropping to his knees as tears filled his eyes, letting out a harsh sob. Princess Celestia only stared blankly, and Princess Luna breathed hard, looking back and forth disbelievingly before her eyes settled on the armored Luna Brynhild: the pony who looked like her and did not at all in the same moment, as Luna whispered: "I wish to offer my condolences to all of thee. The heartache that thou must all feel... and the confusion, aye. But listen. Listen to our story, and... we shall tell thee what we can." And in silence, the ponies listened: Luna summarized who they were, then told of coming in to Ponyville and finding three Tyrant Wyrms here. The creatures had likely used their Hymn and the Black Verses to eradicate most of Ponyville, hence the lack of serious damage they had seen on many of the bodies. She left out how so many of these corpses had been left to ornament the library, and yet as Celestia stared up at a dangling rope, she seemed to recognize it anyway before the Princess of the Sun whispered: "And in a single moment... my world was taken away." There was a heavy silence, punctuated only by the occasional sob and the murmur of guards, as Scrivener and Luna simply sat. Their armored wagon had been wrecked, but they had salvaged the supplies they could out of it already and put them into the saddlebags beside them. Celestia and Luna studied them as Cadence tried to comfort Shining Armor as he cried over his sister's corpse. There was nothing to say, nothing they could say: the guards had orders to head to City Hall and attempt to find any relatives of those deceased, but many of them had been born and raised in Ponyville, and the town had been their family. The now-dead, now-gone village. Many would simply be buried. Celestia offered them lodgings at Canterlot, cordial even if shaken; but it was clear how deeply it affected her on the ride back, crammed into a chariot, looking across at the Princess and watching as tears flowed down her face, glowing in the sun's light. Scrivener and Luna had no reason to refuse, after all. The next few days passed mostly in silence and contemplation, as the two healed from the battle. They were questioned often: sometimes angrily, sometimes almost accused, other times thanked. The world had gone completely upside down for these ponies, after all, and all Luna Brynhild could say to the terrified and sorrowful Princesses was: "They are after us, first and foremost. What thou must do is tend to thy nation, thy people, and... take care of thyselves and each other. Let us handle revenge; it is not a task for the innocent." Scrivener and his wife both wanted to stay for the funerals... but the also knew they had to return home, as soon as possible. Furthermore, ponies were suspicious of them here in Canterlot, even if Princess Celestia was simply... shell-shocked, and her younger sibling was little better off. Cadence, too, seemed to ache deeply for everything that had happened, and Shining Armor had gone on leave, feeling like he failed to protect Equestria: more importantly, he failed to protect his little sister. So instead, Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild left as soon as they felt the Bifrost was serviceable, saddlebags strapped over their bodies. They opened the rainbow bridge in Canterlot Gardens, guarded by a crowd of soldiers and the Princesses... who, even at the sight of the immense magic, were only able to stare blankly. But Luna understood it, better than they would ever know, as tears flowed down her own cheeks even as she and Scrivener ran up the rainbow archway and tore through the hole in reality, feeling energy surging around and through her still-sore body, but this time bringing no joy with it, no sense of adventure, of thrill, of power. If anything, it only grew worse as they ran along the endless and yet too-short bridge, breathing hard, the vortex of swirling energy around them seeming to fade, to darken... and then Scrivener frowned as black lightning streaked by before the rainbow bridge shuddered violently beneath their hooves, and Luna looked down as the male felt a strange prickling sensation in his mind, like that corruption inside his head was being excited again by something... He glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened in horror at the sight of the Bifrost not shattering... but being devoured by a terrible, gaping darkness that was rushing towards them like a cloud of poisonous smog. He turned immediately ahead, sending the thoughts to Luna, but she was already snarling, already sprinting harder, faster, even as her sore muscles screamed in protest against her stained and damaged armor. They shot along the bridge as the darkness chased them, the vortex of sound and light around them become shadows and pain as the bridge began to crack further and further, the cloud vomiting down this narrow tunnel catching up rapidly, and Scrivener could almost hear clanking gears and screaming on the other side before he and Luna tore violently out the other side of the Bifrost, running down the other side of the archway and leaping out onto the road outside Ponyville, both skidding to a halt. The winged unicorn looked up to see the Nibelung guards only a few dozen yards away, by the open gates: it was dusk, then sun having just set, the sky still faintly tinged with light, Ponyville just beginning to slow down. In other words, for once the timing was good as Luna looked up with a snarl as the Bifrost shattered and black smoke steamed out of the hole in reality as it shivered and distorted, then rapidly began to grow into a swirling black vortex, the winged unicorn shouting: "Alarm! Sound the alarm!" The Nibelung panicked at this, but one of the dwarves hurriedly turned to sprint into Ponyville as others ran for the guard towers and the doors as Scrivener and Luna set themselves. They had recovered as much as possible over the last few days, but their bodies were sore, they were still drained and tired, and Scrivener cursed under his breath as Luna gritted her teeth and said coldly: "We need only hold them here, Scrivy... we will buy all the time we can against... against whatever is coming now!" There was a rumble from the black vortex as Scrivener nodded, the two ponies watching... and then staring in horror as three stone statues burst out of the dark portal. They crashed to the ground, a petrified set of Tyrant Wyrm Triplets still frozen in their death throes, and Luna snarled before she shouted furiously: "Do not mock us, or we will make sure all of thy world suffers a fate even worse than this!" And as if in response, the dark portal rumbled violently before vibrations twisted through the air as something tore through in a burst of dark smoke. The object fell to the ground with a tremendous crash, and Scrivener and Luna snarled at the sight of it: it looked like nothing more than an enormous, silvery orb, as large as a boulder, a meteor... The portal above closed, and Luna and Scrivener only stared for a few moments before the silver sphere seemed to simply melt into the ground. Then Scrivener's eyes widened as he realized that it hadn't simply melted: some of that silver goop had spread forwards, was twisting itself like living slime over the petrified statues and soaking itself into the stone... The far right Triplet suddenly twitched violently, then creakily stomped down, anchoring itself into a new position as its jaws closed and its features became emotionless. A moment later, the other Wyrm statues did the same, leaving narrow cracks here and there in their own stone bodies as they moved like jagged puppets. The two ponies cursed under their breath, readying themselves before instincts howled in both the pony's minds, and they looked up sharply as the ground began to tremble. And a moment later, a terrible, monstrous shape made of rock and earth and silver, shifting metal ripped itself out of the earth behind the Tyrant Wyrm statues, its body uneven and heavy, its arms shapeless and ending in vicious claws, head only a rough shape at first... but as it rose up into the air, jaws filled with sharp teeth formed and laughed, and eyes of silver liquid split open as nostrils formed in a face that became dragon-like, horns spiraling out of its skull as Scrivener and Luna stared at the behemoth with horror. The upper body looming out of the ground grinned widely as it leaned forwards, and then Valthrudnir's voice asked coldly, mockingly through his features made of stone and liquid metal: "Did you m-miss me, Brynhild and S-Scrivener Blooms?" The two snarled, staring up in horror at this creature before it laughed jaggedly, the voice strange, echoing as it continued cruelly: "O-Oh how l-long I have waited for this d-day! My day of r-r-revenge on you and B-Brynhild for what you d-d-dared to do to me!" "Did you develop a speech impediment in death?" Scrivener asked flatly, frowning at the strange stuttering, and even as Valthrudnir snarled down at him, he felt like something was... off. "Valthrudnir is dead. Who... what... are you?" "I am the Clock-Clockwork K-King!" the massive, stone construct declared, leaning back before grinning and patting himself gently on the chest, sending down a hail of rubble. "Well, not r-really me... this is just a n-nice way for me to extend my reach beyond Decretum, what you call C-Clockwork World, and h-h-have a hand in k-killing you myself; a simple trick for a Jötnar a-as mighty as m-myself!" "It does not matter who or what thou art... we are going to destroy thee. No mercy, no quarter, no surrender." Luna replied quietly and coldly, setting herself as her eyes blazed, and Scrivener grunted in agreement as he leaned forwards, flexing slowly as he readied himself as well. "And then we shall chase thee all the way back to thy pathetic little toy world, and bring it crashing down around thy head before we rip thee limb-from-limb, monster and imposter!" The stone Valthrudnir only laughed, jarringly, like one harsh, repeated sound again and again, then he grinned as he easily held up his stone claws, gesturing calmly with them, and the petrified Tyrant Wyrms began to move jaggedly as if they were being puppeted, two of them advancing as the third stayed back in front of its master. Emotionless marionettes made from the corpses of soulless machines of destruction... it was almost disgusting enough to make Scrivener believe this truly was Valthrudnir. "V-V-Very well, then let us p-play! And after I k-kill you, I shall take great d-d-delight in destroying your precious h-home!" "The game ends here!" Luna shouted furiously, and she and Scrivener both charged as the rocky construct gave another of its strange, repetitive laughs. It rolled one of its wrists, and immediately, the Wyrm statue Luna was lunging at reared up before slashing its front claws down viciously at her. The winged unicorn quickly flapped her wings to send herself at a higher target on the creature, the claws just scraping past her before she smashed into its neck, almost tearing its head from its shoulders before she snarled as she twisted past it and slammed both hooves hard down into its back between the stone spikes of its petrified piston-bones. Cracks spread through the stone as the creature bucked and rocked, moving in time to the Valthrudnir construct's sharp gestures. The rock goliath's other hand was guiding the second stone figure in a fight against Scrivener, but it was clear most of his attention was on Luna as the earth pony weaved back and forth beneath and around claw strikes, smashing his hooves and slamming his armored frame hard up against the stone statue, chipping off chunks of stone here and there. Scrivener could feel a growing fury, a growing anger, and the corruption in his mind bubbling higher and higher, spreading and spilling through him, urged further by Luna's battlelust. He blocked a hard swipe of a claw with his foreleg, the stone claws ripping through the armor and tearing plating and mesh fabric away from his limb to leave ugly cuts, yet Scrivener barely felt it... and neither did Luna even as the same cuts formed on her own body as she leapt off the Wyrm puppet's back, gracefully arching her back and spreading her wings to do a quick aerial roll out of the way of a lunging claw before she kicked both rear hooves hard into the face of the Wyrm, shattering its stone features, knocking the puppet's head back before Luna dropped suddenly to the ground and thrusted her horn into its chest. She snarled as she focused her magic and fury, then shoved forwards as she released a vicious blast of focused telekinetic wrath and blue fire. The explosion that resulted seared her own features, but sent the puppet rocketing backwards as the construct Valthrudnir flinched and hurriedly covered its own face, the smaller stone puppet smashing into one of its forearms before exploding in a tremendous bang. Chunks of rock and silvery liquid burst down from the damaged construct, and the stone Valthrudnir snarled, losing its focus for a moment. Then golden light shone down over its features, and the construct looked up in blank surprise for a moment before its eyes widened and it snapped both hands quickly upwards: the third, unused stone puppet was immediately launched into the air, flying high to crash into a golden meteor shooting towards the rocky Valthrudnir. The enormous aureate fireball exploded as it collided with the Wyrm statue, pelting the construct with blonde fire and chunks of melted rock as the Valthrudnir construct howled in fury and frustration as it vainly attempted to shield itself with its forearms. Celestia landed a moment later beside Luna, her eyes glowing as Luna grinned widely, looking up at her big sister and rasping: "And for once, I am glad to see thee in full fury, big sister..." "Clockwork World?" Celestia asked quickly, and when Luna nodded, the ivory equine looked over her shoulder at the others who were approaching: Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle among their number. "Rainbow Dash! The clouds, like we discussed!" "On it!" Rainbow shot immediately skywards, followed by several Pegasi, and then Celestia turned her eyes forwards, beginning to charge as Luna followed quickly. The construct Valthrudnir snarled down at them, and Twilight stared in horror, recognizing the Jötnar from a glimpse of dark, faded memory. Inside her, something pulled taut as she looked forwards, watched as the construct made a quick gesture that made the puppet Scrivener was still hammering on knock the earth pony flying, and then the violet mare gritted her teeth as flashes of her friends ran through her mind... friends she had lost every one of, a world and a home she had lost because of what Valthrudnir had done. Her horn glowed brightly, and Twilight leapt upwards, taking to the air with a yell before she snapped her head upwards, and a tremendous blast of blue lightning ripped down from the skies with a crackle of power, smashing into the construct's upper arm. It jerked to the side with a snarl that turned to surprise as the stricken area rapidly froze over, most of its upper limb becoming entrenched in ice that made liquid metal brittle and pried open the spaces between its stony flesh, and then Twilight snapped her head forwards with a yell, her eyes glowing as her horn sparked before releasing a fireball, magical recoil knocking her flying backwards. The focused fireball crashed into the construct's upper arm and exploded with a tremendous bang, ice shattering and rocky shrapnel flying in all directions as liquid metal splattered down like blood. The construct howled in shock grasping at its arm as there was a distinct, terrible crunching before the limb simply peeled off and collapsed, the arm crashing to the ground and shattering into useless rubble. Silvery liquid metal spilled through the earth and into the ground, and the Valthrudnir construct snarled in fury as Twilight fell to the ground and Celestia halted in mid-stampede to look over her shoulder in amazement. Luna, meanwhile was still charging, along with the other ponies and Nibelung that had joined them... before her eyes widened when the construct slammed its remaining claw into the ground, sending cracks ripping through the earth and knocking ponies flying. Celestia looked forwards too late, and the shockwave slammed her off her hooves as well, the ivory equine cursing at herself for letting herself get distracted. Scrivener, picking himself up, was thrown backwards and sent rolling from the blast, and Twilight winced, knocked sprawling as well before the Valthrudnir construct shouted furiously: "Arrogant little insect, how dare you!" He flicked his wrist, and the remaining Wyrm puppet broke into a sprint, covered in cracks and damage that the fast movement only worsened, but it was more than solid enough to hurt, to kill, as it leapt towards Twilight and she only stared in shock... and then Scrivener leapt in front of her, raising his forelegs and cursing in agony as its claw slammed down into them, feeling the stone, jagged talons ripping through the little armor that remained over his forelimbs before the puppet wrenched its claw back. It swiped at him as the Valthrudnir construct cursed, but Scrivener leapt backwards before the Wyrm marionette bit at him savagely. The earth pony did the only thing he could to avoid this, diving over it and snagging its horns and neck with a wince before the animated statue shook violently, then snapped its head upwards. Scrivener was sent flying straight up into the air as he was dislodged, his body flipping once before he arched his back as the Wyrm began to raise its head and open its jaws... and Scrivener dove straight down into its stone skull, smashing into it and shattering its head and neck into fragments as he tore through it like a sledgehammer to hit the ground with a curse in a crumpled heap. The statue staggered backwards, headless and covered in battle damage, Scrivener laying half-prone in front of it and bleeding heavily from forelegs that both felt broken, and the Wyrm puppet trembled for a moment. Then it stepped forwards, raising one claw, but it was blasted backwards by a bolt of light; and as golden flames began to spread over the stone, eating into it like acid as it rolled backwards, Celestia flicked her horn firmly, and the statue simply exploded in a blast of fire and sound. The Valthrudnir construct gazed over them with shock, gravel spilling down from its stump of an arm like blood, its eyes disbelieving before it snarled... then frowned when there was the patter of droplets against its muzzle. Then it hissed as more water spilled over it, rubbing at its features before it looked up in shock at the rain that was beginning to fall, quickly growing heavier as the construct hissed, then writhed as the liquid quickly began to spill through its stone body. Rain poured over the creature and over the crowd of ponies and others, staring up at the construct as it first tried to shield itself, then snarled and simply leaned forwards even as its eyes flickered violently and rippled in its sockets. Silvery liquid was beginning to bubble and leak through its body, water diluting and destroying the bonds of the liquid metal as it leaned forwards and rasped: "Y-You filthy mortals... a-a-always... ch-cheat..." It snarled, reaching forwards, but everyone was out of its reach even before its claw began to tremble, then simply shattered, its arm falling apart bit-by-bit like soggy bread. Its body was beginning to dissolve as well as it rasped, chunks of its frame peeling and falling off as its head began to distort and collapse. Ponies and Nibelungs – and others from the village now – gathered in front of it, looked up at this horrendous monstrosity as it was brought low by simple rain, the creature snarling and breathing hard before it whispered: "B-But this was j-just a test... to... m-make sure you know... that I will not be s-stopped. My t-true forces... have begun moving in your country. It won't be long now before... b-before... you suffer at... the... h-h-hands of y-your own..." It tried to grin, even as half of its face sloughed slowly off into mud and silver muck that splattered loudly to the ground, and then it threw what remained of its head back and laughed before declaring: "Fare w-well, Brynhild and S-Scrivener Blooms! Try not to die too q-quickly... I want you t-taken alive so I can k-kill you myself!" Then, slowly, the laughter of the terrible thing faded out as it simply crumbled apart rock, mud, and silvery liquid splattering down to reveal the core of the destroyed construct: a glassy, cracked orb filled with dying light, surrounded by a cage of black metal bars. Steam hissed up from this at contact with the rain as water seeped inside it and its malevolence was extinguished... yet all present knew it was only the start of what was yet to come. Category:Transcript Category:Story